Chapter 500: Bruno's Dissatisfaction and Expectations

After the Watchtower was captured, a series of post-war handling issues followed.

For example, the management of prisoners of war, the pacification of civilians, the looting of spoils, the disposal of corpses, and so on.

Fortunately, Pulaxiduo had the intention to surrender, and with the help of several Knights under his command, maintaining a stable situation was still possible.

In the afternoon, after Luoning resolved the battle on Meilongnika's side, he returned to the fortress hall of the Watchtower and met with Pulaxiduo.

As a Viscount of the Empire, the other party was now prepared to surrender to Luoning, so naturally, he would not retain his Viscount title, and might even lose part of his power and land because of it.

However, generally speaking, surrendering nobles could still retain a certain status and property through negotiations.

Therefore, what Luoning and Pulaxiduo were currently discussing were these very issues.

First, Luoning did not have the intention to directly confer a title upon the other party; after all, as a surrendered general who had not yet performed any meritorious service, conferring a title was not appropriate.

Furthermore, whether the other party surrendered voluntarily or not, Luoning could easily occupy the Watchtower and take it with low combat losses.

Surrender is not a merit.

Regarding this, Pulaxiduo knew deeply that there was no way to refute it, and could only try to make up for it in terms of land, power, and property.

Luoning was quite open-minded about these things.

If Bruno later designated the Watchtower as Luoning's territory, Luoning would appoint Pulaxiduo as the Governor of the Watchtower; although he would have no noble title, he would still be the manager of this territory.

Of course, if Bruno did not assign the Watchtower to Luoning, he also promised to arrange a town for Pulaxiduo, allowing him to serve as Governor.

In terms of property, apart from the fifty percent of wealth the other party handed over, Luoning did not touch the remaining fifty percent much.

Finally, there was the land.

Regardless of whether Pulaxiduo continued to stay at the Watchtower in the future or moved to a small town in Moonlight Valley, Luoning would only grant a certain amount of land according to the other party's strength level and status, and would not give all the land in a certain place to the other party.

The control of the land still had to remain in Luoning's hands; only in this way could he maintain overall control, in preparation for continuing to implement the land policy he had set at Shanlin Town later on.

The negotiation did not last very long; although Pulaxiduo lost a layer of skin, he at least saved his life and preserved the future of the Carmen Family.

And Luoning also gained a new subordinate.

In terms of strength, Pulaxiduo was the strongest subordinate under his command besides Ruidar, Maiken, and Aierlong.

Of course, there were also Suofeiya and the other four, but their relationship with Luoning was more like cooperation rather than subordination.

Not long after, Jialete's Griffin Knight delivered an order, telling them to arrive outside Miwu City before noon tomorrow.

"Jialete is really impatient."

Luoning looked at the military order in his hand with some surprise.

Although there is the saying of pursuing the fleeing enemy, the mobilization of the entire front still needs careful consideration; at the very least, one needs to see the situation of each family, what their losses are, and whether they can continue to act.

It is rare to see a practice like Jialete's, where new combat orders are issued directly without giving a moment of rest.

"My Lord, what shall we do? Shall we go directly?" Ruidar asked.

Luoning nodded, "Let's go. No matter what Count Wulaer of Miwu City is up to, we need to find out."

The situation in Miwu City was indeed a bit suspicious; not only did Luoning not understand it, but Pulaxiduo, who had dealt with Count Wulaer for many years, also could not make sense of it.

However, no matter what the other party was doing, Luoning had to go and see.

At the same time, just in case, he had already asked Kaierluosi to notify Suofeiya, Peiteluo, and Aierlong, who was far away in Swamp Town, to come over; they would arrive by tonight at the latest.

Luoning prepared to let Suofeiya and Peiteluo join the battle.

Although Aierlong would also go to the battlefield, before that, he needed to use his status as a Magician to guide the thirteen Magicians of the Watchtower; after all, these people would all be assigned under Aierlong's command in the future.

The night was deep.

In the Jinyu Palace, Meier, the minister responsible for intelligence and liaison, walked quickly into Bruno's study.

At this time, His Majesty the King was wearing pajamas, sitting lazily on a soft chair.

"Meier, coming to the Jinyu Palace in the middle of the night to disturb my rest, has something happened?"

Meier held the letter and stepped forward, his face full of smiles: "Good news, Your Majesty, good news!"

Good news?

Bruno felt a jolt, and the sleepiness on his body was swept away, "Has the war on the border started?"

Although he had said that Gushan and Luoning could decide when to start the war themselves, they should at least send him a message before starting, right?

"Quick, let me see!"

Bruno immediately took the letter and read it quickly.

There were two letters in total.

The first letter came from his eldest daughter Xuelun, who was the wife of Count Yiben.

She first talked about how her husband had captured the enemy's heavily fortified fortress, claiming credit for Yiben's battle achievements, then talked about the victory on the entire front, and finally praised her younger brother Jialete's command decisions for being very appropriate, and so on.

The second letter was from Viscount Weilisi of Black Jade Bay, also celebrating the victory and the hardship and difficulty of winning the battle, and then praising Jialete.

The purpose of their letters was very simple: it was both to report the good news and to let His Majesty the King know of their loyalty and ability, preparing for the rewards after the war.

Although it was gratifying good news, Bruno's face sank.

"What is going on? The commander on the front line is Jialete?" he asked.

Meier was stunned for a moment; he did not know the content of Bruno's original letter, "Isn't it, Your Majesty?"

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Bruno took them back.

Revealing the truth now would undoubtedly bring very negative evaluations to his son.

But no matter what, he did not expect that Jialete would openly defy his orders and even change his political decrees.

"This child!"

Bruno sighed and thought to himself: "Fortunately, this battle was a victory on the entire front. After taking Miwu City, it won't be too late to criticize him."

He pondered for Along while and said to Meier: "Go help me write a congratulatory letter to each of them; you can decide the content yourself."

These things all had similar templates, so it was not difficult.

After Meier withdrew, Bruno had the Guard summon Buluoer into the palace overnight while writing new letters to Luoning, Yiben, Gushan, and others.

Very quickly, Buluoer arrived.

"Your Majesty, what instructions do you have for me at such a late hour?"

Bruno handed the written letter to him, "Deliver this to Luoning at the front lines, and have him relay my order—once Miwu City is taken, he must not continue to march into Tricia Kingdom, and at the same time, have Jialete return to Jinyu City to see me."

After saying this, he added another sentence: "If Jialete still refuses to return, then privately have Luoning think of a way."

Buluoer had no doubts about the first order, but he could not understand the second one.

What had His Royal Highness the Crown Prince done to make His Majesty reveal such a tone of dissatisfaction?

One had to know that all these years, whenever Bruno mentioned his son Jialete, he always had an attitude of great satisfaction; when had such a situation ever occurred?

"Go, if possible, set off this very night."

"Understood!" Buluoer nodded solemnly.

His Majesty was actually this urgent; it seemed some major event had occurred.

When only Bruno was left in the room, he let out a heavy sigh.

"Although this child was somewhat arrogant and conceited in the past, he would at least listen to my words; now he even dares to disobey my orders."

He shook his head helplessly.

Bruno had placed high hopes on Jialete since he was small and had always been grooming him as his successor, even letting Jialete preside over and make decisions on certain occasions.

But this did not mean that Jialete could go against Bruno's will.

If it were a small matter, it would be one thing, but this matter involved Luoning; such behavior would only make his relationship with Luoning become worse and worse.

This was something Bruno was very unwilling to see.

"It seems I must find a way to separate Luoning and Jialete."

Bruno pondered for Along while and finally decided to first bring Jialete back to properly educate him; if the other party still wanted to go to the battlefield later, he would arrange for him to serve as a battle supervisor under Feilunsi or Andeliya.

This way, he could avoid contact between Luoning and Jialete.

Casting aside this vexing matter, Bruno opened the map and looked at the location of Miwu City.

His mood at this moment was the same as his daughter Xuelun and Viscount Willis; he believed that with the existence of two Blazing Sun Knights and a dragon, plus the merging of their forces, there would be no problem taking Miwu City.

"The crushing defeat thirty years ago made my father depressed and listless, which is why he passed away early; now that Miwu City is being taken back in my hands, this experience of the Auduin Family's crushing defeat can finally be wiped away!"

"If I make use of Luoning and his forces, rebuilding an empire belonging to the Auduin Family will not be a problem!"

Sitting on the throne, who does not want to expand their territory?

Bruno had to admit that his mood at this time was one of anticipation and excitement. (End of this chapter)